Japan Culture

Japanese culture has evolved greatly over the years, from the country's original Jomon culture to its contemporary hybrid culture, which combines a number of influences from Asia, Europe, and America.

Historically, China and Korea have been the most influential starting with the development of the Yayoi culture from around 300 BC and culminating with the introduction of rice farming, ceremonial burial, pottery, painting, writing, poetry, etiquette, the Chinese writing system, and Mahayana Buddhism by the 7th century AD. In the pre-modern era, Japan developed a distinct culture, in its arts: (ikebana, origami, ukiyo-e), crafts (dolls, lacquerware, pottery), performances (bunraku, dance, kabuki, noh, rakugo), traditions (games, onsen, sento, tea ceremony, architecture, gardens, swords), and cuisine.

From the mid-19th century onward, Western influence prevailed, with American influence becoming especially predominant following the end of World War II. This influence is apparent in Japan's contemporary popular culture, which combines Asian, European, and, 1950-onward, American influences in its fashion, films, literature, television, video games, and music. Today, Japan is a major exporter of such culture, which has gained popularity around the world, particularly in the other countries of East Asia. Especially notable contributions of modern Japan to the rest of the world include animation (anime) and graphic novels (manga). Japanese culture has attracted many devotees in Europe and North America as well.

Literature

Books, manga, magazines and newspapers are also a part of the Japanese culture. Even though TV and other entertainment have led to a decline in the time spent reading, book stores are everywhere and public libraries offer a huge store of books. Local municipalities offer reading sessions of writings like 'Genji monogatari' (The Tale of Genji) and poem classes. There are also second hand shops dedicated exclusively to selling used books, magazines, and music software cheaply. The Kanda district in downtown Tokyo has been famous for selling second hand books for over 80 years.

See Japanese Literature

Music

For many outsiders, Japanese music is associated entirely with cheap, disposable bubblegum pop, of which there is plenty. However, many distinct styles and innovative artists play folk and classical music, much of it very intense, and others play distinct forms of rock, electronic music, hip hop, punk rock, and country music. Examples include famous punk rockers Boredoms led by Eye Yamitaka, noise pioneers Masonna and Omoide Hatoba, native Japanese Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda's duo Cibo Matto, mainstays like Loudness, Yellow Magic Orchestra, The Alfee and Hound Dog, and fad sensation ukelele duo Petty Booka.

See J-Pop

Food

Through virtue of a long culinary past, highly influenced by Korean and Chinese practices, the Japanese have developed a sophisticated, yet simple cuisine highly customized to the change of seasons. Modern Japanese enjoy a variety of traditional Japanese food, including many seafood dishes (sushi and sashimi for instance), as well as a multitude of foreign cuisine. One can easily find Chinese, Korean, and Thai dishes as well as non-regional American, French, and Italian foods. Japanese cuisine is a product of its environment and people. The ease of acquiring fresh ingredients led to sushi, high temperature and humidity led to varieties of pickled and fermented food like natto and soy sauce, and an adaptation of foreign cuisines led to ramen.

See Japanese Food

Language

Understanding Japanese is essential to understanding Japanese culture. Both traditional Japanese culture as well as the modern popular culture are based on spoken and written Japanese language.

Japanese is known to be related to the nearby Ryukyuan languages, forming the Japonic language family. An earlier theory that it is a language isolate related to no surviving tongues is a popular misconception. However, beyond that, its classification remains controversial. The most widespread theory is that the Japonic languages are not related to any other language family; however, other theories have tied it to extinct languages from the Korean peninsula, to a Ural-Altaic superfamily (along with Korean and the Uralic languages such as Finnish, Hungarian, and Samoyedic), or to the Austronesian languages of the South Pacific. Although it is not thought to share a common linguistic ancestor in Chinese, it has borrowed a great deal of vocabulary from that language. The Japanese writing system itself was developed from contact with Koreans knowledgeable of Chinese writing. This process began around 400 CE.

The habit of modifying Chinese symbols to suit themselves, however, resulted in what the Japanese called wasei kanji, and continues today as they modify English (or European) words, which they call wasei eigo.

The Japanese writing system is actually four writing systems used in tandem: kanji, which are logograms adopted from Chinese writing; the two kana syllabaries, hiragana and katakana, which developed from kanji; and the Latin alphabet, called romaji when used to write Japanese, is also common.

See Japanese Language

Media

Japan has about 100 million television sets in use, and television is the main source of home entertainment and information for most of the population. The Japanese have a wide variety of programs to choose from, including the various dramas (police, crime, home, and jidaigeki — "samurai" dramas), anime, news, game, quiz, and sports shows provide by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (Nippon Hoso Kyokai--NHK) general station, the NHK educational station, and numerous commercial and independent stations. The violence of the samurai and police dramas and the satirical humor of the cartoons draw criticism from mothers and commentators.

Popular culture

Japanese popular culture not only reflects the attitudes and concerns of the present but also provides a link to the past. Popular films, television programs, comics, and music all developed from older artistic and literary traditions, and many of their themes and styles of presentation can be traced to traditional art forms. Contemporary forms of popular culture, like the traditional forms, provide not only entertainment but also an escape for the contemporary Japanese from the problems of an industrial world. When asked how they spent their leisure time, 80 percent of a sample of men and women surveyed by the government in 1986 said they averaged about two and one-half hours per weekday watching television, listening to the radio, and reading newspapers or magazines. Some 16 percent spent an average of two and one-quarter hours a day engaged in hobbies or amusements. Others spent leisure time participating in sports, socializing, and personal study. Teenagers and retired people reported more time spent on all of these activities than did other groups.

In the late 1980s, the family was the focus of leisure activities, such as excursions to parks or shopping districts. Although Japan is often thought of as a hard-working society with little time for pleasure, the Japanese seek entertainment wherever they can. It is common to see Japanese commuters riding the train to work, enjoying their favorite manga or listening through earphones to the latest in popular music on portable music players.

A wide variety of types of popular entertainment are available. There is a large selection of music, films, and the products of a huge comic book industry, among other forms of entertainment, from which to choose. Game centers, bowling alleys, and karaoke are popular hangout places for teens while older people may play shogi and go in a parlor.

Sports

Popular professional sports in Japan consist of both traditional sports like Sumo wrestling and imported sports like baseball and football (soccer). In addition many amateur sports are popular in Japan, such as tennis, volleyball, basketball, golf and rugby. Popular amateur sports native to Japan include martial arts like kendo and judo.

More on Japanese Culture

Japanese Culture Paul Varley. For nearly three decades Japanese Culture has garnered high praise as an accurate and well-written introduction to Japanese history and culture. The fourth edition includes expanded sections on numerous topics, among which are samurai values, Zen Buddhism, the tea ceremony, Confucianism in the Tokugawa period, the story of the forty-seven ronin, Mito scholarship in the early nineteenth century, and mass culture and comics in contemporary times.

The Japanese Way Noriko Takada, Rita Lampkin. Covering aspects of behavior, attitudes, and customs of the Japanese, this valuable handbook gives an understanding of how people of today's Japan think, do business, and act in their daily lives.

The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Culture Osamu Ikeno, Roger J. Davies. Offers Westerners an invaluable key to the unique aspects of Japanese culture. Readers of this book will gain a clear understanding of what really makes the Japanese, and their society, tick. Among the topics explored: aimai (ambiguity), amae (dependence upon others’ benevolence), amakudari (the nation’s descent from heaven), chinmoku (silence in communication), gambari (perseverence), giri (social obligation), haragei (literally, "belly art"; implicit, unspoken communication), kenkyo (the appearance of modesty), sempai-kohai (seniority), wabi-sabi (simplicity and elegance), and zoto (gift giving), as well as discussions of childrearing, personal space, and the roles of women in Japanese society.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Japan" and "Culture of Japan".

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